The Integrative Services Project (ISP) is a research-in-action team based in
Iowa. ISP began
with research through the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) and found in substance abuse
treatment, 90% of the women reported experiencing domestic violence in their lifetime, 97%
of women reported experiencing emotional abuse 6 months prior to treatment, and 67% of women
reported experiencing physical abuse 6 months prior to treatment. In domestic violence
shelters and agencies, 65% of women either met criteria for alcohol dependence or reported
problems with their drug use.

ISP was born out of the promise that was made to the women who participated in the research that
their story would make a difference in the services provided at domestic violence and substance
abuse agencies, along with the expressed urgency by the agencies involved in the research to improve
services for substance abusing battered women.

The mission of ISP is to enhance safety and sobriety of substance abusing battered women by ending
discrimination in service provision. The ISP promotes the improvement of service delivery through
research, agency education, technical support, and the facilitation of collaboration between service
providers.

The Integrative Services Project was highlighted as a "Promising Practice" by the National Center on Domestic
Violence, Trauma and Mental Health. To hear the full webinar, visit their webpage:
nationalcenterdvtraumamh.org

The Process of ISP

The process of being involved with ISP is over a three-year period. ISP contracts
with a substance abuse agency and a domestic violence agency that provides services in a similar
catchment area in Iowa. The agencies then begin a process of education which includes 19 hours of
basic and joint trainings, meetings with planning committees that consist of a variety of staff from
each agency, and technical assistance during the development and implements two new integrated services
in their agencies. ISP also continues to research services for substance abusing battered women and
conducts Safety and Sobriety Audits in the agencies that have completed the educational and collaborative
process. To learn more about the process of being involved with ISP,
click here to contact us.

The Integrative Services Project was supported under award numbers�2001-DD-BX-0086 and 2004-WR-AX-0034 from the Office on Violence Against �Women, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice.
This research was supported under award number 96-WT-NX-0005 from the�National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, United States�Department of Justice.